Three day’s ago I put up a one question PollDaddy poll on safewords. I closed the poll at 9:15 am on Thursday 9 August 2012.
These are the results. 320 people responded, of whom 11 said they weren’t BDSM people, so they didn’t answer the question. Of the rest, there were 161 submissives, 105 dominants and 43 switches. As with the other surveys I’ve done there always seems to be more interest among submissives, and dominants seem to take more of an interest as the completion deadline looms.
The results, surprisingly (at least to me) show that a clear majority of those that responded do not use safewords, especially if they are in relationships.
The question asked was: “Please tick the answer that most resembles you and your attitude to safewords”
The chart below shows the answers given by all respondents. Most came from the UK, where I promoted the survey on Informed Consent and Fetlife Up to a fifth may have come from other countries, mostly the USA, with maybe a quarter of the non UK responders coming from other European countries.
Dominants
Two-thirds of dominants said they were more likely not to use a safeword.
| Dominants | Actual | % |
| Mostly use safeword | 36 | 34% |
| Mostly don’t use safeword | 69 | 66% |
| Total | 105 |
Submissives
Submissive respondents agreed with dominants, in the same proportions.
| Submissives | Actual | % |
| Mostly use safeword | 54 | 34% |
| Mostly don’t use safeword | 107 | 66% |
| Total | 161 |
Switches
Three out of four switches said they were more likely to use a safeword than not.
| Switches | Actual | % |
| Mostly use safeword | 32 | 74% |
| Mostly don’t use safeword | 11 | 26% |
| Total | 43 |
People in relationships
People in relationships said they were the least likely to use a safeword of any group (only a quarter said they did).
| In relationships | Actual | % |
| Mostly use safeword | 46 | 24% |
| Mostly don’t use safeword | 147 | 76% |
| Total | 193 |
People interested in scenes and play
Two thirds said they used safewords
| Play and scenes | Actual | % |
| Mostly use safeword | 76 | 66% |
| Mostly don’t use safeword | 40 | 34% |
| Total | 116 |
Related articles
- Safewords: BDSM safety essential or sacred cow? (belasarius.com)
- Who uses safewords? First results (belasarius.com)
- Symbols of ownership: How do people wear them? (belasarius.com)
- Safeword Survey – does a safeword make play feel more artificial? (belasarius.com)
- Consent Violations in BDSM (belasarius.com)
A dominant and submissive life 
One thought on “Who uses safewords? Results”